'Now I'm Baa in real life too!'

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'Now I'm Baa in real life too!'
By: Shaheen Parkar
April 10, 2007

Sudha Shivpuri's daughter Ritu is preggers

Kyunki Beti Bhi Ab Maa Banegi: Sudha Shivpuri with daughter Ritu

Even though she's over 100 years old and a great, great, great, great grandmother on Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Sudha Shivpuri will be a grandma in real life for the first time this year. Her actress daughter Ritu Shivpuri is preggers.

"I have seen generation after generation on screen, but in real life, I am going to be a nani for the first time," says Sudha, who is also seen as dadi in the Balaji drama Kasamh Se on Zee.

"On screen I have seen several characters having babies, but this real-life scenario is certainly unique," points out Sudha.

Bonny baa!

Ritu is married to Hari Venkat, son of prominent Mumbai-based nutritionist Vijaya Venkat. Says Sudha, "The baby is due around July-end or early August. Ritu lives very close to my home in Versova, so I meet her often. She is doing absolutely fine."

This will be the first grandchild in the Shivpuri household. "I am looking forward to the new arrival. My son Vineet is not yet married, so it will take a while for me to be a dadi in real life — a role I normally essay on screen," says Sudha, who was married to the late character actor, Om Shivpuri.

Incidentally, Ritu is best remembered for her role in David Dhawan's film Aankhen (1993), starring Govinda and Chunky Pandey, which had the chartbuster song O Lal Dupatte Waali.

She later did a couple of flicks like Ketan Mehta's Aar Ya Paar and Vikram Bhatt's Elaan, before disappearing from the silver screen and later tying the knot.

While Sudha has been the matriarch of the Virani parivar in Kyunki from Day One of the soap over seven years, she had desired a drastic image change a while back. She was pencilled in to play girlfriend-cum-granny to Ronit (Amit Jain) in the Sony soap Ye Meri Life Hai, which is now off air.

She was all set to shed her saris and do away with the tears for designer salwars and lots of funny moments. However she had let go off this assignment citing a busy and pressing Kyunki schedule.

Baa facts...

Sudha Shivpuri made her film debut with Swami, playing mother to Shabana Azmi.

Her first TV serial was Shanti.

She bagged Baa's role in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi after acting in the Balaji's serial Bandhan (DD Metro), in which she played a mother-in-law.

She formed part of the third batch that passed out of the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi

She set up the Om Shivpuri Academy to teach acting, but the 'make me an overnight star' attitude of the students led to its untimely closing.